India's Future Style Lab opens concept stores in New Delhi and Mumbai

The Future Group's subsidiary Future Style Lab has opened their first two concept stores, one in New Delhi and one in Mumbai. Future Group is one of India's largest retailers operating in sectors across a wide variety of retail spaces, including department store chain Central and value formats like Big Bazaar.

Last year, Future merged with Bharti retail, which put them in the position to be tough competition for Reliance Retail, the biggest retailer in India.

Future Style Lab was designed to develop brands for both freestanding stores and to retail through Future's current network. A design office was opened in London to help further this initiative.

“It is a pioneering move for an Indian company to have a design hub in London with a senior and experienced team,” Manjula Tiwari, chief executive officer of Future Style Lab, told WWD. “It is about getting the trends in our collection and seeing how the Indian consumer will respond.”

Future Style Lab's first brand is called Cover Story, and its first two standalone stores have opened at Infiniti Mall in Malad, Mumbai and the Mall of India, Noida, in the New Delhi Capital region. Both spaces are 1,000 square feet.

There are also over 10 Cover Story shop-in-shops in Future Group's 31-unit Central department store chain. The plan is to open an additional three to four freestanding stores this year, and a total of 50 stores over the next four years. The brand is also being sold on e-tailer Myntra for an exclusive six month period.

Cover Story's prices range from 8 dollars and 88 cents to 50 dollars, with ten percent of the store area dedicated to accessories and shoes so customers can create a complete look.

Cover Story picks up on global trends and adapts them for Indian consumers. The store caters to consumers in the digital era, with a selfie format that allows customers to browse through collections and even share looks on on apps like WhatsApp and Facebook.

India's women's wear market has been growing at a 25 percent to 30 percent rate year-on-year, and is currently estimated to be worth 11.5 billion dollars. Westerns styles account for 25 percent of that 11.5 billion.

A lot of India's growth has been aided by the fast-fashion sector. Zara entered the Indian market five years ago, and H&M launched in India for the first time last year. While other markets like China are struggling, India could be the one to watch as brands could be switching their focus over to South Asia.